The Goldman Sachs Group Boosts Eaton (NYSE:ETN) Price Target to $382.00

Eaton (NYSE:ETN - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $345.00 to $382.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the industrial products company's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 6.16% from the stock's current price.

ETN has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Eaton from $336.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $326.00 to $349.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Eaton from $325.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Eaton from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $370.63.

Eaton Price Performance

NYSE ETN traded up $2.84 on Tuesday, hitting $359.82. The stock had a trading volume of 869,923 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,661,713. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $329.10 and a 200-day moving average of $313.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.31. The company has a market capitalization of $140.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.17. Eaton has a 52-week low of $231.85 and a 52-week high of $379.99.

Eaton (NYSE:ETN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.70 by $0.02. Eaton had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 23.41%. The company had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Eaton will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eaton

In related news, insider Craig Arnold sold 103,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.75, for a total transaction of $33,400,106.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 490,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $158,214,632. This trade represents a 17.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael Yelton sold 2,120 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.87, for a total transaction of $629,364.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,004,014.34. This trade represents a 38.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 156,660 shares of company stock valued at $49,622,894 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eaton

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ETN. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Eaton during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,472,231,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Eaton during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,495,582,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Eaton by 27,281.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,593,321 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $976,772,000 after purchasing an additional 3,580,198 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Eaton by 85.4% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,629,464 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $986,966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672,175 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors purchased a new position in shares of Eaton in the 4th quarter worth approximately $523,541,000. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company's stock.

Eaton Company Profile

Eaton Corporation plc operates as a power management company worldwide. The company's Electrical Americas and Electrical Global segment provides electrical components, industrial components, power distribution and assemblies, residential products, single and three phase power quality and connectivity products, wiring devices, circuit protection products, utility power distribution products, power reliability equipment, and services, as well as hazardous duty electrical equipment, emergency lighting, fire detection, explosion-proof instrumentation, and structural support systems.